From: Associated Press
“You don’t get closer to the core of EPA’s mission than enforcing the law,” Jeff Ruch, PEER’s executive director, told The Associated Press. “We’re reaching levels where the enforcement program is lacking a pulse.” EPA efforts to prosecute polluters reached 592 criminal referrals under President Bill Clinton in 1998. Criminal referrals have been on a downward trajectory since then, especially under the Trump administration. A supporter of deregulation, President Donald Trump as a candidate called for doing away with all but “little tidbits” of the federal environmental agency.”